Never too Late
by Valentine'sNinja
Summary: There was no recognition in his eyes, but even if there had been, their kind were not meant to be together. CloudTifa, VampireWerewolf fic. Gift for ObsessiveCompulsiveValkyrie!
1. Faces from the Past

Woah, my fiftieth fic! First off, let me point out that this has _nothing_ to do with Twilight or any of the books or movies, but expect to see VampireWerewolf romance. Seriously. Second, this was supposed to be a done yesterday as a gift for ObsessiveCompulsiveValkyrie's, but I fail. So, happy birthday! Valk, you're total awesomeness and I don't know where my writing would be without you.

Also, I just finished reading one of Laurell K. Hamilton's books, so this fic is heavily inspired by her work and Valk's _Blood, Sweat, and Tears _(which you should all read). If there are any similarities between our works, I take no credit for it! So, I really hope everyone likes this and if there is anything out of place, please feel free to let me know and I will correct it. I don't think I did enough research, but I'll still do my best. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own Final Fantasy or any of the characters used in this piece of fiction.

…

Fear was clawing up her throat as her legs pumped, trying desperately to escape the looming shadows behind her. She had always known that danger had lurked in her small town, but she had always stayed indoors when the sun set, like a good girl. This time, she hadn't listened to her father's warnings. She had thought it all to be a folktale told to children to scare them into not running out in the dark to do mischief.

If only she had listened, she wouldn't be in this mess, running for her life. Her room had been unbearably hot and she had decided to crawl out of her window to go take a dip in the lake nearby. But after she had refreshed herself, she had felt eyes on her, something dangerous following her every move.

She had taken off at a run and despite her training in breathing exercises, and martial arts, it didn't appear that she would be fast enough to outrun the danger reaching for her. When she turned, there was nothing there, but she could hear the snap of twigs and the rush of air from something…

When she turned back around, she screamed as a long, rough hand closed around her neck, squeezing as it lifted her right off the ground. "You smell of fear, little rabbit."

"Let me go, please!" she choked, fingernails clawing at his hand.

"I can offer you so much more than this boring country life," he purred, settling her feet on the ground, keeping the rough grip on her neck. "I've been watching you for some time now and I know that you're a special child."

"W-what are you talking about?" she whispered, voice shaking as she stared into cold, blue eyes. The rest of his features were still obscured by the shadows, but his eyes seemed to glow.

"I can smell the sickness growing inside of you," said the deep voice, inhaling the air around her. "Within months, you will be dead."

"No… I've been sick recently, but the doctor said it wasn't serious!" she yelled, tears springing to her crimson eyes.

"The doctor as well as your fool father lied to you, young one. But I can see it all. I know what you are worth and I want to offer you the opportunity to be something… exceptional."

"H-how?" she asked, voice weak.

"Death and rebirth."

"What?" she asked, confused. She choked when his hand tightened around her neck once more.

"Vampire."

Her eyes widened and her breath shuddered out in shock. Only one thought echoed in her head. "I'll stop being sick?"

He chuckled darkly. "Yes. But in exchange, you will leave everything behind and come with me. I will teach you all I know and you will be one of the most powerful of our kind."

She weighed her options. Death by a sickness her father—and probably everyone else—had kept from her, or… immortality. Being a monster until the end of days. She had read so much on things that she had always thought were nothing but fantasy and now it was here, staring her in the face. Giving her a choice; something her father hadn't done. She didn't want to die, but, despite it all, she didn't want to leave her father behind!

"He deceived you. He may have wanted to protect you, but how do you protect someone from death? A man who lies to you and tells you everything is okay deserves nothing but hate and contempt."

"Why me?" she whispered, tears trailing from the corner of her eyes.

"Because your soul called to mine. Will you accept my invitation?"

She was dying, and her father had hid it from her. She had been offered the chance to become a vampire, a… a monster. What if it was a trick? What if he just wanted to lull her into a sense of trust and then kill her permanently? Staring into the eyes of death, she could feel her thoughts become jumbled, her feelings overtaken with resentment. Closing her eyes in silent acceptance, her cry of pain and anguish echoed through the forest of Nibelheim as sharp fangs pierced the soft flesh of her neck and her life was quickly drained away.

…

"Their stink is unbearable."

The brunette watched her companion wrinkle her nose delicately and smirked. "Patience, Aerith. We won't be here long." Together, the two females approached the bar and the bartender turned to them quickly.

"What can I get you two beautiful ladies?" he asked with a charming smile.

"Two shots of straight tequila and information on where we can find Shinra."

Aerith smiled and blinked big, green eyes. "We would be grateful if you helped us in this matter," she purred, her eyes shining unnaturally.

The man's features seemed to slack as he stared at her and nodded. "He's up in the VIP lounge, but not just anyone can get up there," he said, mechanically pouring the alcohol shots.

"Don't you worry your pretty red-head over that," Aerith said pleasantly. "I'm sure, we can find a way. Thanks a lot, handsome." She light in her eyes faded and the spell was broken.

"Drinks on me," he said hoarsely, watching the brunettes down the shots and walk away after thanking him.

"Humans… so easy to manipulate," said the darker haired woman.

"But they're useful, aren't they, Tifa?" Aerith asked, both slinking through the crowded room and avoiding being touched.

Tifa made a noise of assent that was drowned out by the chatter and music in the bar, but that her companion's ears heard quite clearly. They paused when the scent intensified towards the VIP section of the bar/club. "I don't think you'll be able to bend that bouncer to your will easily."

They both slipped onto stools at an empty table and watched the man there. He was talk, dark, handsome, and dressed in a pristine suit. "That suit is a little too neat," said Aerith calmly.

"He's one of Shinra's. Can you try grabbing him from here?" Tifa asked, checking her watch.

Aerith's eyes shifted to the man and the green in them began to glow once more. The man stood ramrod straight and looked around the room, searching. "He's strong-minded. It must me a requirement for the men who work with Shinra."

"Come on," said Tifa, sliding off the stool and approaching the man once more.

The look he gave them was anything but friendly, but within touching distance, Aerith slipped slim fingers against his wrist, her eyes lighting with green fire. "Let us through."

He blinked and fought her. "No need for tricks; Rufus is waiting for you."

Aerith's lips curved into a smile and she retracted her hand before she and Tifa moved past him without a backwards glance. "I'm going to have to work on controlling werewolves. I'm close."

Tifa shrugged and smiled. "It's a good thing that he didn't even bother to check our weapons. We don't know what Shinra wants, and had it not been for Genesis' coercing, I wouldn't have come here."

"Shinra has something he wants," murmured Aerith.

Tifa just nodded as they walked down a darkened hallway and to the last VIP room. They were stopped at the entry way by a tall, lanky man with vibrant red hair that couldn't possible be natural. He leered at the both of them and Tifa rolled her eyes.

"He's attracted to you," Aerith said with an amused grin.

"So the rumors are true," said a silky voice from inside the room.

"What rumors?" asked Tifa, walking into the room after brushing off the _bodyguard._

"That your friend there can read and control minds," said the blond they had come to see.

"It was obvious on his face," said Tifa dryly.

Blue eyes narrowed, but his lips curved into a smirk. "Rude told me about the little run-in you had with him downstairs."

"He called you via phone?" Aerith asked, curious.

"Possibly," said Rufus Shinra, standing and motioning for them to take seat across from him. The man had either called him or Rufus was linked to his men in some other, more psychic way. "I was beginning to wonder if you'd show. Our man at the front door didn't report seeing you enter."

Crimson eyes flashed and she smiled. "What makes you think we used the front door?"

There was silence for only a few seconds before Rufus chuckled. "Very good. This means that all of the rumors we've heard about you are true."

Tifa and Aerith sat but had nothing to say to him about the rumors. "We're here because Genesis wants something from you, not to make small talk."

"Ah, so beautiful and so blunt. I heard you had a particularly interesting power," said Rufus, ignoring her curt words.

Tifa smiled enough that her fangs showed, and it was a purposely threatening gesture. "What have you heard about me?"

"While your friend can read minds and _charm_ someone into doing her bidding, you can see into the future. You know things before they happen and that is why you have cheated death so many times," Rufus said, watching her reaction closely.

"No one can cheat death," Tifa replied coolly.

Rufus just chuckled and nodded. "How can you when you're already dead, right?"

Aerith's eyes narrowed and began to glow. "I don't care for you mocking my sister. Either tell us what you want or we will leave," she threatened.

Rufus blinked a few times, feeling disoriented and nodded. A guard at his back moved forward and dropped a thick envelope onto the table between them. "These are three targets that we need to be disposed of. You get it done and will give your master what he has been searching for."

"Why do you want them dead?" Tifa asked, taking the envelope but not opening it.

"I don't think that's any of your business. Just get it done." he watched both women bristle in anger and knew that he shouldn't have been picking on them, being as dangerous as they were.

They were both wrapped in beautiful, small packages, but he had learned the hard way that beauty was the most dangerous weapon. It was also a big reason why the two before him had been so successful in their jobs. Genesis had assured him that they were two of the bests killers he had ever trained, and that they would perfect for his next project. Rufus smiled to himself.

"Hope that I never catch you out alone, human," Aerith said as she and Tifa stood.

"I'm never alone," Rufus said, cocking his head to the side smugly.

"Of course, you always hide behind your dogs, don't you?" Tifa asked snidely.

Rufus' eyes changed in an instant, from pleasant to cold. Satisfied with his reaction, both she and Aerith turned towards the door.

"I'm much more dangerous than I look, ladies. If you encounter me alone some day, I can assure you that I will not go down without a fight," came Rufus' calm voice.

"We'll look forward to that day," Aerith said with a smile that was half sweet and half poisonous.

"I really don't like that guy," Tifa muttered and Aerith nodded empathically. She didn't know why Genesis was allowing them to take orders from a human who hid behind his wolves, but if Genesis needed something from him, it had to be important. "Should we go out the front door?"

Aerith grinned and looked up at a ladder that led to the roof. "When have we ever done things the easy way?"

…

Sitting in a chair of the underground home she shared with her fellow nightwalkers, Tifa stared at the images of the men they had been instructed to kill. There had to be some mistake, she thought, glaring at one photo sitting on the table.

"These are the targets?" asked Aerith, coming up behind her, already dressed in a pair of loose fitting pants and a tank-top. Tifa merely nodded and remained silent. "Do we have a last known location?"

"Gongaga," Tifa replied. "Recognize this one?"

Aerith took a closer look and her eyebrows forked thoughtfully. "I thought he was dead!"

"Apparently he isn't," Tifa said bitterly.

"Teef—"

"You don't have to say anything, Aer. If he hasn't thought to contact me all of this time, then now he'll be well and truly dead to me."

Aerith turned the image around and looked at the information printed on there. "Look," she murmured, pointing at the status of the target. "He's not human anymore."

Even if he _had _looked for her, Tifa realized that their relationship wouldn't have worked out. Assassins had no place for emotions or loved ones. Some would even laugh at the prospect of a vampire loving someone, let alone a human. Well, she supposed that it was even worse now, since he had been turned into a werewolf.

In the time that she had been a vampire, she had learned to evolve and adapt to the changing times. Genesis had taught her much about the world and had trained her when her new powers had started to manifest. There were a few other things that no one knew she could do, but she had kept them in the dark. It was quite possible that they would try for her head if news got out.

Aside from that, the partnership between vampires and werewolves was a tenuous one and anything could break it easily. Though Genesis wasn't by far the oldest of vampires, he was one of the ones who was working towards a peace goal. It had been harder than he had anticipated, but they were moving forward. Tifa imagined that whatever he wanted from Shinra so badly would help with that.

The human man that had left her was in the past, and the werewolf standing between her goals had already been marked. If she didn't kill him, then someone else would be sent in their place and he would be dead anyway. This way, she would get closure, as cold as it seemed.

"We leave tomorrow at sundown. We'll then have to be in Gongaga in two hours, maybe three, and from there we hunt."

"You're sure you'll be able to kill him?" Aerith asked, dubious.

"If I don't, someone else will do it and Genesis will be angry. I'll do it," said Tifa, waving a hand vaguely. "And stop trying to read my thoughts."

Aerith giggled, and had Tifa not known her for more than sixty years now, she would've thought that the other woman was human. "You know I always liked a challenge."

"You can read _their_ minds before we kill them," Tifa replied, packing up the information and surveillance images back into the envelope before throwing them into the waste basket and setting fire to it.

"Why would I do that?" Aerith asked, mischief clear in her tone.

"I want to know why Shinra wants them dead. Maybe the information can be useful," Tifa said, winking and smiling.

"I like the way you think, sister." Aerith grinned patting her on the back before retiring to her room.

Tifa was silent as she watched her go and sighed—a human gesture that had yet to leave her. She could still remember how her life had been before her death, before Genesis had come and offered her a chance at survival. She had been a nice girl, always following her father's rules, and she had been loved by everyone in her village. But the years after her human life had ended had been lonely and cold ones until her friend had been brought to her.

Aerith had been there whenever she needed her, but despite that, her profession had driven her to be cold; a complete shadow of who she had been in life. Having a human man fall in love with her had been something new and interesting, even though it had been foolish. She had thought that he had been killed five years ago, but when she had opened up the envelope, the image with his face had shocked her the way nothing else had in years. It didn't matter anymore because he had been marked and he would die, even if it wasn't her finger which pulled the trigger.

Turning and walking out of the common room, Tifa brushed her bangs out of her eyes and made for her room. Contrary to popular belief, vampires didn't die during the day, nor did they sleep in coffins, but Tifa found that it was during her sleep in the day that she received her premonitions far more clearly. Aerith's own energy needed to replenish every time she used her powers, and that meant that sleep was like refueling, though not essentially vital to their health the way it was for humans. Sometimes it took a feeding to be able to get back the energy they had lost.

In the hall, she passed a few comrades who were either off to sleep or feed. Though most gave her a wide berth out of fear and some admiration. Her visions had proved to be accurate, though it had been known that if she told someone of it, the future changed.

Before settling down for the day, she prepared her weapons and other things she would take with her on their hunt. The weapons of choice were guns with silver bullets and other dangerous blades that would get the job done if the bullets didn't. When she set hands on her trusted gun, her eyes unfocused and a fog swept over her eyesight.

Taking a breath, she relaxed and allowed the vision to come to her.

_It was a race through dense jungle and all three wolves seemed to know where they were going, even in the dark. A snarl filled the air when black boots rushed to catch up to them, gun ready and in hand._

_The direction of one of them changed and suddenly disappeared. Shit, where had he gone and why couldn't she hear him anymore? Through the bond she shared with her friend, she sent her puzzlement to her, and Aerith was only able to send back a feeling of alarm before the darker haired brunette was tackled from the side._

_The momentum was enough to drop the gun from her hand and roll her and the furred body above her many times. They slammed into a massive tree and before the jaws could snap against her jaw, she had produced a silver blade and jammed it into the wolf's shoulder._

_It howled its rage to the moon and claws dug into her own shoulder in reprisal. She grunted in pain, but when he leaned close to her, baring massive canines, all that filled her eyesight were its eyes. Eyes the color of the sky during summer, set in fur of the palest blond she had ever seen._

_Her lips parted in surprise to say his name, but before she could utter it, a scream tore through the air and broke them apart._

Tifa gasped as the vision stopped and realized that the scream could only have belonged to Aerith. Well, now that she had seen the vision, she and Aerith would make the necessary plans in order to remain close during their hunt. No one would hurt her and get away with it, Tifa thought viciously, slamming the gun magazine in far more roughly than necessary.

After setting all her weapons out and covering them with a cloth just in case someone decided they were stupid enough to sneak into her room, she took a shower and changed into more comfortable clothes. One vision had come, but maybe more would follow if she could well and truly rest.

Shutting her eyes, she forced any thoughts from her head and tried to forget the eyes she had seen on the wolf's face. Why did he look so familiar to her? Maybe when night fell once more she would figure it out.

…

Their trip from Cosmo Canyon to Gongaga was a fairly quick one when considering Aerith's driving and an all-terrain vehicle. If Tifa had been alive she would've been afraid for her life. As it was, she and Aerith had gotten used to living life on the fast lane and with death—_permanent death_—looming at their backs, so a bit of manic driving wasn't really something to worry over.

They left the car on the outskirts of the small town and both gathered their weapons.

"Take this one," Tifa said, handing over a shot gun. "I need you to stay close to me."

Green eyes gave her a shrewd look but she didn't attempt to read her thoughts. "Did you see a vision of something happening to me?"

Tifa nodded once and slipped a long blade into a sheath at her thigh. "We need to stay together if we're going to stay alive. If we have to give chase to them into the jungle, we need to stay within touching distance."

Aerith nodded and slung the strap of the shot gun across her back for easy access. "I'll stay close."

Satisfied, Tifa smiled and they both set off towards the town, steps near silent and quick. Stopping in the middle of the dark square in the center of the town, they both inspected the lights in the homes, though many had begun to turn in for the night. Down the block was a small restaurant still serving its customers and both women walked over.

Standing in the darkened space off to the side, they use their sharp eyesight and hearing to watch the place for any sign of the men. "Catching the whiff of wet dog?" Tifa asked.

Aerith nodded and finally spotted their first target sitting at the small bar counter of the restaurant. "There," she said with a nod towards him.

"But where are the other two?" asked Tifa, shifting her coat around her to hide the weapons. She imagined that even with their coats, they both looked as if they were looking for trouble, dressed in all black, pale skin, and eerie colored eyes. "Should we take him out from here or lure him out?"

"I would rather not disturb the humans. I remember what it was like to be afraid of shadows, Teef. Let's do our business and be on our way," said Aerith with a sigh.

"Fine," Tifa murmured. "I'll draw him out and I'll incapacitate him so that you can find the location of the others before we kill him."

Aerith slipped into deeper shadows and waited patiently, readying her weapons.

Stepping into the establishment drew some minor attention, but with a sigh of power from Tifa, the patrons went back to their business and ignored her. The click of her boots alerted the man at the bar of her presence and she smiled, taking a seat next to him.

Blue eyes turned to her and he sniffed the air lightly as his lips pulled into a small grin. "You look and smell like death."

Tifa hummed. "That's because I _am_ death."

"Never knew death could be hot," he said, winking at her.

"Would you rather we do this here or move outside? You're dead either way, but if it makes you comfortable, we can take a few humans with you so that you won't be lonely as you die."

He heard the safety of a gun click off and stood to his full height, nearly towering over her. "You'll have to catch me first."

Tifa felt a slight displacement of air and looked back to see the door closing slowly behind her. With a rush of adrenaline, she disappeared just as quickly and was racing into the shadows where she could hear him in the distance, Aerith's scent following.

She was a blur of movement and before long she had caught of to her old friend and their target, who was proving that werewolves could hold their own when it came to speed. The gun left Tifa's shoulder holster and she aimed as she ran, her eyes focusing even in the dark.

Damn it, this had been part of her vision but they were only chasing one of the wolves. Where had the other two gone? Were they still in town or had they been alerted by their companion? Sighting down the barrel of her gun, her finger began to squeeze the trigger when a snarl filled the air and something with incredible strength slammed into her, bodily taking her down.

The gun was knocked at out of her hand as they rolled together and underneath Tifa's fingerless gloves, she felt fur right before sharp teeth sunk into her shoulder. Choking back the scream that bubbled up in her throat, Tifa used the momentum of their roll to jam her knee into the wolf's pale, yellow belly with all of her strength. Her knuckles aimed to the side of his head, but unless she wanted him to rip off a piece of her shoulder, she only used half her strength.

Despite her _soft _hit, it let her go and they separated before they were both on their feet. Tifa took only a second to inspect the creature, recognizing him as the one from her vision, before he lunged at her. She jumped to her left and the snout came close to snapping at her ankles.

Tifa reached for the blade at her thigh and let it loose with precise aim, watching in satisfaction as it hit the wolf's shoulder on the same place he had bitten her. He howled in pain and pulled the burning silver from his body, blue eyes turning back to her as he stood on two hind legs, nearly a foot taller than her. "Surrender and I will make your death painless," she said, shoving off her coat and gloves.

"Shinra scum," the rough voice growled at her.

Tifa's eyebrow twitched and she was tempted to tell him they weren't associated to Shinra, even though they had been sent by Rufus. Another thought occurred to her… usually marks were oblivious of the fact that there was a price on their heads. Why, then, did this wolf know that Shinra had wanted him and his companions dead?

She didn't have much time to ponder before he was running full on at her. Tifa was ready for him this time and she sidestepped him with inhuman speed, using a leg to trip his two hind ones. The pale wolf stumbled and Tifa's fist slammed into his side, cracking one or two of his ribs.

The long tail whipped her roughly in the face and blinded her for a second, but he took the opportunity to pounce and tackle her to the hard ground, claws digging into her already wounded shoulder until it cracked. A noise escaped her lips, but despite his weight on her back and her incapacitated shoulder, her eyes began to glow like red fire.

His grip on her shoulder loosened, and it was enough for Tifa to shove with her good hand against the ground and throw him off. Getting to her feet, she pushed at her dislocated shoulder and grunted when it was set back in place. Reaching for a second gun at her hip, she approached the wolf that was panting on the floor, nearly whimpering as one claw dug into the soft earth and the other gripped at its head.

"Did you really think that you would best me, filthy beast?" she hissed, setting the gun at his temple. This was no longer the man she had known and it was best that she didn't think of him as Cloud. He was nothing but her mark, now.

_Tifa!_ Aerith's voice echoed in her head before a second wolf pounced from the shadows, as if materializing from thin air. It didn't tackle her with its body the way the pale wolf had done, but instead it took her down with a hand on her neck, slamming her into the ground hard enough to make her vision swim.

"Release him—" his growling voice said, the bass even deeper than the pale wolf's. "Or I will snap your neck like a twig."

Tifa's eyes cut over to the wolf she still held in her mental grasp and she smirked as she felt her throat being crushed. She wouldn't die of asphyxiation but she _would _die of getting her neck crushed. "Break my neck and he'll die with me," she coughed out.

The whine from the other wolf was getting louder as he writhed on his side, holding his head. The silver wolf stared at her with eyes that would've looked better on a cat, not a variation of dog, she thought with a sneer. Green eyes burned into her and had she had the physical strength, this one would've been in her grasp as well.

Both froze when the sound of a shotgun being cocked broke through their glaring contest. The barrel of the gun pressed to the back of the silver's head and his hand momentarily tightened on Tifa's throat. "Let her go or I will assure you that you will not be able to heal from a silver bullet from this range," Aerith's voice said.

Silver turned slightly to look at her and his eyes narrowed when he saw a black wolf at her feet, passively sitting there as if awaiting orders from its master. "What have you done to him, vampire bitch?"

Aerith's free hand moved down to scratch behind the black's ear. "Would you like to find out?" she asked, smirking when the wolf at her feet bumped his head up against her hand for more.

The silver backed away and released Tifa slowly, allowing her to get to her feet. Both turned to look when the pale wolf began to revert to his human form, still clutching at his head.

"Let him go," the silver wolf hissed, a threatening growl working its way up from his chest.

Tifa picked up her fallen guns and pointed with her good hand while she only held the other gun with her hurt arm. "You knew someone would be sent to kill you. Why didn't you leave town?"

Her eyes fall on pale skin and blond hair, but she gritted her fangs and forced herself to look away. "Answer me!" she spat, making the man groan out in pain.

"Release your hold on Cloud and I will tell you what you wish to know."

Tifa looked at Aerith and the brunette nodded once. It meant that her friend—no, sister—trusted her with what she was doing. Tifa blinked slowly and the man on the ground stopped making pained sounds.

Instead of pointing the shotgun at the silver wolf, Aerith moved around to point it at the man on the ground, knowing it would be far easier to kill him and not give him the chance to heal the damage. "Talk," she said, keeping her control over the black wolf. She didn't know how long she would be able to do it, either, but she hoped it would last until the silver wolf answered their questions.

Before he could say anything, the fur began to slip back as if being pulled under skin slowly, and suddenly they had another man standing there. Had the two women been human, the fact that he was tall, slender and naked would've been _very_ distracting. "A week ago we escaped a Shinra lab," he said in a low voice, silver hair ruffling in the wind.

"Why do they want you dead?" asked Aerith, covertly checking out the goods. Tifa glared slightly at her, but turned back to the man.

"We were part of secret experiments that involved the lycanthrope virus. We were SOLDIERs before it all began, but during war, it was reported that we had been killed. The experiments began then, after we had been taken underground."

"How did you break out?"

"The doctor in charge of us got cocky, and he made the mistake of taking us all out of containment at the same time," he replied.

"And now Shinra wants proof of his dark experiments destroyed," Tifa finished.

The man nodded. "We were human a few years ago, and Shinra felt that they owned us because we were part of their SOLDIER program. They took our humanity from us," he nearly snarled.

"And Cloud?" Tifa asked, her eyes darting to the blond.

"He was the most damaged out of all of us. He has no recollection of his past, even with Zack and I trying to fill in the blanks." Green eyes gave her a speculative look. "You knew him."

It wasn't a question. "I knew the human. I can't help what he is now," Tifa said, clicking off the safety of her gun. "If we don't kill you tonight, others will come who will not hesitate."

Aerith felt the last of her control over the black wolf give and released him, scoffing when he snarled at her, snapping his fangs. And again there was suddenly a naked man standing in the dense jungle with them.

"I didn't know vampires could be beautiful and evil bitches at the same time," he spat.

"I'll take that as a compliment," Aerith replied sweetly.

"Why aren't we dead yet, Sephiroth?" Zack asked, remaining where he was on the ground, attempting to cover his most important bits. "They aren't even Shinra."

"The vampires are hesitating."

Tifa narrowed her eyes. "What would we get in return for our help?"

Sephiroth's smile wasn't pleasant. "Shinra is attempting to create an army like us. Ask yourselves why he would be doing something like this."

Aerith and Tifa shared a look, but all Tifa could sense from her friend was confusion. "If you already know, stop beating around the bush."

"Such a human saying," Sephiroth commented. Tifa glared and he looked at her in amusement. "They want the next experiments to be on your kind. But none of the weaklings that I have heard exist. They will come after the powerful ones like you, and your friend. They want to exploit your talents and see if they can be replicated."

"It's not possible," Aerith said. "Each power is unique and is triggered after we die as humans."

"Their doctors seem to think that it's possible and they will cut and torture thousands and millions of your kind until they see for themselves that it can't be done." Green eyes glittered maliciously. "And we're the only ones who know where their labs are."

_Do you know what you're doing?_ Aerith whispered in her mind. Tifa sighed. "I don't know," she replied out loud to her question. "But if there's ever a choice between you or my sister, guess who I'm going to pick?"

"First, we need a plan. Can you gather more of your kind to help us in this?" Sephiroth asked.

Tifa shook her head. "I don't think anyone would believe us without proof. It's farfetched even for the two of us," she motioned to Aerith and herself, "and we've been around for a while. It'll be just us and maybe two or three more of us."

"We'll need to form a strategy first and maybe we can find a way to get into the lab and dig up the old doctor's notes on what he plans to do," Zack said after remaining quiet for too long.

They all turned to look when Cloud stirred and sat up, probably unaware that he was naked, too. Blue eyes blinked a few times and he looked around at everyone standing near him, including the shotgun that was more or less still pointed at the middle of his chest. "What the hell happened?" he asked, eyes finding Tifa.

She waited for some type of recognition from him but got none. Tifa didn't know why she had been expecting more from him, but she knew now that it had been some silly, human wish. It was funny how she seemed to forget sometimes that she hadn't been human in years. This was exactly why vampires were not supposed to get involved in anything remotely similar to love or any other soft feelings.

Sneering slightly, she holstered her gun and turned back to Sephiroth. "We have a place in the Midgar slums that will take you in. In sector seven, search out a man named Barret and he will give you somewhere to stay. Aerith and I will have to return to Shinra to let him know that you're dead."

"How will you convince them?" Cloud asked, addressing Tifa.

"I'll need blood from all three of you on this blade," she said, lifting the one that already had Cloud's.

Zack looked suspicious, but he sliced a clean line of his forearm, allowing the blood to pool on the blade before passing it to Sephiroth, who did the same. "This won't prove anything."

Tifa shrugged. "It will buy us some time to get the proof we need."

Cloud shakily got to his feet and Tifa had to look away from him. "Why are you helping us?" he asked.

Aerith smiled at him. "Because we just lost an old friend to Shinra."

Cloud looked confused but nodded his head in understanding.

Tifa took the blade back and motioned Aerith to her side. "If you've lied to us this night, we will find out, and we will hunt you down to finish what we started. Now, go. Aerith needs to burn some of the surrounding area."

Before any of the men could say anything, flames erupted from the lighter Aerith had lit and thrown to the ground. As the red orange flames rose, Tifa's eyes met Cloud's and he stared at her for a moment. Something in them flickered, but was gone as if burned up by the flames. With one last look, he turned and disappeared into denser jungle.

"You let them go because of Cloud, didn't you?" Aerith asked.

Tifa turned away from the flames. "We'll see if my instincts failed me tonight. The next time we won't show them any mercy if it turns out that they lied."

"What are you going to tell Genesis?"

"For now, only that the marks are dead. The blade can be delivered to Shinra if he wishes. But until we have solid proof of what that bastard wants to do to our people, we won't tell Genesis anything," said Tifa, picking up her coat and gloves before they began their trek back.

Aerith sighed and sometimes wondered if her friend retained human emotions without even knowing it. Compassion was something she had never given any of their victims, until… it had been Cloud. "We'll have to search some sort of job in Midgar so that it won't seem so suspicious for us to travel there."

Tifa nodded in agreement but said nothing else. Her usually clear and calm mind was a mishmash of conflicting thoughts. She didn't know if she had done good in letting them go, but there was a part of her, so deep and dormant—and human—that had wanted to believe in them. Maybe Aerith was right and she had done this for Cloud, but why? It wasn't worth going through all of this trouble for a man who had forgotten who she was.

She just hoped that this plan didn't backfire on her. They were about to take on an empire, and as far as Tifa knew, none had gone against Shinra and survived.

…

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…

I will try to get the next chapter up soon, and I'm hoping it won't turn into a monster. This _should _be five chapters or less. Anyway, though it may same that vampire-Tifa is similar to the Tifa from my fic _Coming Undone_, she isn't. More information will come up on their world and why she is the way she is in the next chapter. I bet you all want to know more of Cloud, too, so have a bit of patience, please! Thanks so much for reading and Valky, I hoped you liked this piece!


	2. Tip of the Iceberg

Noooo! I don't want this fic to be like Twilight! I did see that Tifa's power is Twilight-ish, but I promise you that this story will have nothing to do with the books/movies. I have nothing against the series, but I'm not a fan, either… I haven't even read the books… though I saw the first two movies and I wasn't impressed. But anyway, seriously guys, assume that my vampires are based on Laurell K. Hamilton's when it comes to their powers and stuff.

Now, big thank you to everyone who reviewed and gave me their honest opinions for the first chapter. I appreciated knowing what you liked and didn't like, and I'll keep in mind the things I need to work on. You are all so amazing for taking the time to comment. Please enjoy the chapter!

…

**Tip of the Iceberg**

…

"Something is going on," Tifa whispered to Aerith when they arrived back in Cosmo Canyon.

"You can smell it in the air, too?" the green eyed woman asked.

Tifa nodded and together they slipped in through one of the smallest, most secret entrances. The hallways were empty of the others residing there; matter-of-fact, it seemed that the entire living space was deserted. "What the hell is going on?" Tifa whispered.

Aerith shook her head as she and Tifa drew their guns just in case it was some sort of trap. "You didn't receive any visions of this?" she whispered.

Tifa shook her head and they first headed over to her room to gather the rest of her weapons. They stopped by Aerith's room as well, and Tifa helped her friend gather her necessary things. Then, together they crept down the hallways towards Genesis' office.

The only noise they caught was of shuffling papers and together the both of them sighted with their guns and moved into Genesis' office, expecting to find an intruder.

Genesis' eyes snapped up in surprise as he was packing up important documents. "What are you doing here?" he asked, shocked.

Tifa didn't know if she was reading his emotions right, but there was something about the man's eyes that had her instincts on edge. "What's going on? Where is everyone?" she asked.

Genesis smiled at the two. "I'm glad to see that you're both okay and only suffered minor cuts and scrapes," he sad, winking.

Tifa refrained from rolling her eyes out of respect for the man who had been her teacher for many, many years now. She looked down at the torn material of her shirt and realized the wound had nearly closed and that the blood was already drying, making her clothes stick to her skin.

"Were the targets killed successfully?" Genesis asked, interrupting Tifa's inspection of herself.

Aerith nodded. "We burned down the surrounding area of the jungle in order to burn their bodies."

"Did you know that Shinra was conducting these kinds of experiments on humans to turn them into a different breed of werewolves?" Tifa asked after a pause.

Blue eyes narrowed. "Shinra can try all he wants to make creatures more powerful than us, but in the end, it's our blood that will prevail. These experiments he's conducting are going to come back and bite him in the ass, quite literally."

Tifa frowned and wondered why he was taking the information in so calmly. There was no way of knowing how many wolves Shinra had created with the superhuman strength that Sephiroth, Zack, and Cloud now possessed. If he succeeded in creating an army, they could very well wipe out more than half of the vampire population. Something wasn't right with the situation, or with Genesis being so composed with this, but she wouldn't voice her suspicions to anyone but Aerith and Barret. If there were any people she could trust it would be the two of them.

"Where is everyone?" Aerith repeated Tifa's question.

"We got a report that our hideout had been compromised and everyone evacuated to several other meeting points. I want the two of you to head out to Midgar and wait there for word from me," Genesis said as he slipped his Rapier sword in its sheath at his hip and a gun in his back holster.

"Where will you be going?" Tifa asked.

"I will head out to Junon. I have a contact there who said that he could give me information on the experiments being conducted there." He finally finished packing up and moved to stand between the two of them, taking their hands and placing a kiss on their knuckles. "Be safe, loves. It may be a while before we see each other, but rest assured that the we will soon know what it is that Shinra is doing. We'll put a stop to his plans."

Aerith and Tifa nodded and took off towards an opposite exit. "Do you think we'll make it on time?" the lighter brunette asked.

Tifa looked at her watch and shook her head. "We'll need to make a stop before sunset. Then we'll take up our journey once more and we'll be in Midgar by tomorrow night."

Once they were in the car and driving away from what had been their home for nearly two years, Aerith noticed the troubled look on Tifa's face. She found it odd, when her old friend was an expert at hiding her emotions when she wanted. "What's on your mind?"

"Why not try to read me?" Tifa asked, watching the trees passing them by.

"Because even when you're worried you can block me like no one else has been able to," Aerith replied. "Tell me."

Tifa sighed and nodded. "I feel like Genesis is hiding something from us. Something that could be potentially dangerous to _us, _the vampire community as a whole."

Aerith hummed in thought. "He _did_ look too calm for comfort," she murmured.

"Yeah, he did. Genesis is far older than us, but his behavior the last few months has been giving me second thoughts. I know that if he was going to betray us I would've had a vision by now, but I haven't Seen anything so far," said Tifa, at a loss of what to think.

"Maybe we'll have to investigate on our own," Aerith said. "And watch what kind of information we give him."

Tifa nodded in agreement and closed her eyes, willing her powers to come to her and bring her a vision. She had found that there were times when she could bring them forward, but she was still too inexperienced with her power and there were certain times when her visions refused to come.

There had been legends in some of the old books that Genesis owned, that the ability to See could extend up to many, many years into the future, but this only happened with hundreds of years of training and control, which obviously she lacked.

Blinking, Tifa's eyes opened to the fog that came with her visions and she relaxed, easily accepting it.

"_Specimen number twenty-one will be next. Bring her in and we will begin to examine just how well vampire and werewolf blood works together."_

"_I thought both were supposed to exterminate and cancel each other out."_

"_That, my good doctor, is exactly why she needs to be tested. This girl may hold the key to creating the perfect specimen."_

"_I don't think so," said a deep voice from her left, the glint of a blade shining under the fluorescent light._

"_Hmm… I knew that you couldn't have been so easily disposed of, boy. You look healthy," cackled the greasy doctor, pushing his glasses up his nose. "Dear Sephiroth… and you've brought company!"_

_Tifa cocked her gun and gave a not so pleasant smile. "I hear you're the one trying to create a monster with unparalleled power."_

"_Yes, well, I don't think that's any of your business. It was a mistake coming here," said the doctor. "You see, since this girl is so valuable to us, we will do anything to ensure that she remains in her cage. Even if that means taking out my own son and the first Seer in over a thousand years."_

_This was news to her. Son? First Seer in a thousand years? Right… how did the crazy bat know all of this? "We're prepared to raze this lab to the ground and with you in it," said Tifa calmly._

"_It's a good thing, then, that I was prepared for something like this."_

_The cold prick of a needle into her neck made her gasp and realize that she and Sephiroth had let their guard down. It also meant that someone with amazing speed had to have been the one to inject both her and Sephiroth. Within seconds they were both on the ground, bodies boneless._

_The last thing Tifa caught were a pair of blue eyes, but a nowhere near distinguishable face._

…

Their arrival in Midgar was uneventful, though Aerith had a lot to complain about when it came to the scent that permeated from the slums. It was where the poor had been pushed to live while the rich and classy lived above the plate. The Shinra buildings were on top of the plate as well, but Tifa knew that staying in the slums would rouse less suspicion.

The homes there were humble and many, many people walked the streets, returning home from their small jobs, or possibly going off to drink their troubles away. Tifa parked their dirty, dusty vehicle behind the bar and walked in through the back with a key. Instead of heading out towards the crowd of people drinking, the two females took a secret passageway from the pantry that led to some stairs and to an underground tunnel.

She had told Aerith about her vision, since she obviously wanted it to change, though she kept that last image of blue eyes to herself. She knew plenty of men with eyes of that similar hue, but… she had to wonder who it was that the greasy doctor had on his side. Werewolves were fast, but she would've detected the scent even from a mile away. No, whoever it had been must've been a vampire.

Approaching a metal door, they knocked twice and gave the codeword before being let into the living quarters that had been established there long ago by other vampires.

Barret was there in the sitting room, arms crossed over his chest and scowl on his face. "I thought you would've given me a damn warning before sending these three over here," he growled.

Tifa shrugged. "They didn't give you any trouble, did they?" she asked, slanting Fair a look when he scoffed.

"Other than practically eating all of the meat in the freezer? No. Didn't know you were into picking up strays," said Barret with a dark smirk.

"Tifa never really liked dogs," Aerith chimed, green eyes shining merrily.

"It's funny… I never liked clammy dead things, either," Zack muttered.

Aerith's smile was like sugar as she suddenly appeared in front of the dark-haired man; the three wolves had barely seen her movement. "Would you like to repeat that?" she asked in a soft tone.

"Careful, Fair, or she'll claw your eyes out," Sephiroth said with a chuckle, noticing the annoyed look on the vampire's face.

"Oh, I have much more _entertaining_ ways to cause pain," Aerith said in a low voice, turning her back to Zack and pausing in front of Sephiroth to look up at him. "Maybe Fair can tell you what it feels like to be a nice puppy, nipping at my heels."

Sephiroth's green eyes darkened with the challenge before he quirked an eyebrow and smirked at her. "You're like poisonous candy, aren't you, girl? Sweet and pretty on the outside, deadly on the inside."

Aerith half-smiled. "I'm a lot older than you. You'd do well to remember that," she said before walking out of the kitchen, leaving Tifa alone with Zack and Sephiroth.

Tifa sighed and looked at the silver-haired man. "We need to talk. Alone."

Barret grunted and looked at Zack. "Make yourself useful and go wash the dishes that are stacking up at the bar. Tonight is a full house and we need help."

"Fine," Zack said with a pout, brushing past Tifa and not giving either her or Sephiroth a passing glance.

"Where's Cloud?" she asked once they were alone.

"Resting."

He didn't elaborate and Tifa didn't ask him to. "I had a vision that involved the both of us in a lab with a greasy looking doctor."

Sephiroth's eyes widened only slightly and he motioned for Tifa to sit with him. She did so across from him and regarded him silently. He looked nothing like the man in her vision and she wondered if the doctor had been lied to when concerning Sephiroth's paternity. "You know who he is?"

A single nod. "He calls himself my father, but he never had the connection with me to prove that he and I were related." Sephiroth paused and gave her an appraising look. "What did you See?"

"We stepped right into a trap, you and me. The doctor—"

"Hojo," Sephiroth interrupted.

Tifa nodded. "He was talking to his colleagues about a half-vampire, half-werewolf girl that he had as his _specimen._"

"Is it possible to cross the bloods?" Sephiroth questioned in a low tone.

"In the old books that I've managed to get my hands on, I've read that the offspring of vampire and werewolves are usually killed at birth or before. There must be those that have gotten away with it out there, but they keep in the shadows out of fear," Tifa replied.

"What kind of trap did you see us walking into?"

Tifa explained the rest of her vision, but Sephiroth found it hard to believe that they both had been unable to detect the presence of their attacker. "He or she was fast," Tifa said, somber.

"And you've been trained just as well as we were back in SOLDIER," Sephiroth observed.

"I've been trained to hide my presence and leave no trace. Over the years that have passed, I was urged to be trained in various military techniques."

"You are a formidable opponent."

"I'll take that as a compliment, coming from a man such as yourself."

"But I'm not really a complete man anymore, am I," Sephiroth stated.

"Not being human doesn't take away from you being a man," Tifa said with a mild smirk. She sobered and crossed her arms over her chest. "We'll eventually have to infiltrate Shinra HQ. In order to avoid my vision and a risk of becoming specimens ourselves, we will have to send in others in our places."

He nodded in understanding. "We can change the vision?"

"I've found that once I talk about it with someone, the vision changes. Half of what I See happens, while the other half completely changes," Tifa said.

"And the girl… are you planning to break her out?"

Tifa stared at the table top for a few long seconds. "We can't give Hojo the chance to discover what it is that he wants. If he does, he'll be free to start creating his monsters."

"Hojo doesn't have a main base of operation. He travels from city to city," Sephiroth said.

"Where was he the last time you saw him?"

"In Nibelheim."

Tifa remained silent for a moment. "I'm going to see what information I can gather here in the city. I still have a few hours before sunrise," she said, getting to her feet and checking to make sure she had all of her necessary weapons.

"How will you gather the information that you want?" Sephiroth asked, gaze unreadable.

"Some will take money. Others need to feel threatened," she said with a shrug. "I'm willing to do both."

"I'd be curious to know what kind of human you were before you were turned," Sephiroth commented.

"I used to be a sweet country girl who enjoyed going for swims when the moon was high," Tifa said, a touch of sarcasm in her voice.

The ex-General was amused. "Were you this cynical as a human as well?"

"Cynicism comes with your first centennial," Tifa replied with an easy smile.

She walked out before the man successfully managed to make her laugh. She wasn't supposed to be socializing with their targets. Tifa knew that soon enough other mercenaries would come looking for them once it was known that they weren't dead, so the best she could do was not become attached.

…

It was late in the morning when she found herself polishing off her guns and cleaning up her blades, when Cloud emerged from the room he had been resting in. He looked worn out and tired, still, but he looked alert and his gaze was sharp. "Can I help you?" Tifa asked, interrupting his very obvious appraisal of her.

"Zack told me that you used to know me… back when I was human," he said after a moment.

Tifa stopped polishing and looked up. "And what's your question?"

He regarded her seriously. "Even though you knew me, you would've been okay with just killing me off?"

"It was a job," Tifa muttered. "It's nothing personal. I _am_ a vampire; causing death comes far more easily than it does to humans, or even wolves."

Cloud sighed. He supposed that her reply to his question had been a 'no.' She wouldn't have stopped to think about their past, or whatever relationship they may have had, be it friendship or something more. He was beginning to see why Zack was so colorful in his speech when referring to vampire females. "And it doesn't affect you that I don't remember anything about you?" Cloud asked, curious eyes noting how she seemed to be polishing on the short side of vicious.

"Is it necessary for you to come and question me like this?" she asked after a moment of tense silence.

"I'm just interested to know what you think of all that's going on. I honestly don't remember ever having met you and I wonder how it was that you and I were acquainted," Cloud said, stepping over to grab a glass of water.

Tifa set down the blade in her hands and looked at him. "Why do you want to know?"

"If you had a nothing in your head but memories of blood, scalpels, and pain… wouldn't you want to know something from your past that may not have been so bleak?" Cloud asked, taking a seat next to her.

Tifa looked down at her weapons and sighed. "What makes you think that our past wasn't bleak?"

Cloud stared at her profile, taking in the soft curves of her pretty face, the near crimson color of her eyes. He had to admire once more all of the deceptive beauty masking the danger underneath. "Were we friends? Lovers? Enemies?"

Tifa slanted him a look and half-smiled. "We were lovers for a short time. You were eighteen going on nineteen."

Cloud's eyebrows rose high in surprise. Some would consider that age… _young_, considering the fact that she was over a hundred_. _"Why do you say it was for a short time?"

"Because you left for a mission, a newly promoted Third Class SOLDIER and I left the city on a job in Wutai. We never saw each other again," Tifa finished.

"How long ago was this?" Cloud asked curiously.

Tifa let out a small, sardonic laugh. "Do you really want to know?" He inclined his head once as she sighed. "Ten years ago."

Cloud's eyes widened. "But—"

"You look like you're still twenty," she commented. "Didn't know vampires and werewolves age slower?"

"I didn't know life had passed me by so quickly."

Tifa leaned back in her chair to regard him silently. "Why do you say that?"

"Because apparently, Hojo kept us in captivity for nearly five years," Cloud said in a calm tone. "Sephiroth and Zack remember everything, but I don't. I have glimpses of what went on in those labs, but before that I remember nothing. My past is one big blank. The only reason why I've stayed with Zack and Sephiroth is because we've protected each other up until this point," Cloud added after a moment.

"It's the same way with Aerith and myself. Our powers may be different, but we complement each other. We've kept each other alive," Tifa said thoughtfully. She looked at Cloud, who had been watching her and raised an eyebrow in question.

"You would've mourned my death on some deep level," he commented in a low voice. "Vampires, for all the coldness that they like to exude, _do_ know how to feel."

"I didn't say we didn't. But it's much easier getting the job done if you shove everything else out. Blood calls to us naturally, so it's not always hard to spill it," Tifa said.

"Is that why you chose to become some sort of mercenary?" Cloud asked.

Tifa was surprised that his tone wasn't accusatory this time, nor was he judging her. He was just curious. "I found out from Genesis that when I was a human, everyone around me had been lying to me and that I would soon die of a human illness. He brought me over, gave me a new life, and trained me. He did so with the purpose of being able to defend myself, but soon enough I _chose_ what to do with my life. It was all I knew, but it was easy and it kept me busy. I don't kill for money like a common mercenary, but I kill those that pose a threat to my kind."

"You kill for your master, don't you?"

"Genesis is not my master," Tifa replied, tone cold.

"I didn't mean to insult you," Cloud said quickly. "But he is the one who directs your movements, isn't he?"

Tifa nodded and glared at her hands. "He's taken care of me for more than a hundred years. It's the least I can do."

Cloud looked lost in thought as he began to speak. "Was he the one who pointed you in our path? Did he send you to kill us? Maybe… we weren't the ones who were supposed to die."

She'd already thought of that; that instead, Genesis and Rufus had been counting on Aerith and herself being defeated and killed. But there was no proof of whether Genesis was betraying them or not. So, until any clues arose, no one would know of her suspicions. "I'm still trying to figure out a few things," she said evasively, ignoring his question.

Cloud let it go, realizing that Tifa would not answer him, even if he attempted to pry. "What are we going to do next?"

Tifa stood and began to pack up her weapons, holstering her guns and slipping knives into various sheaths hidden in her clothes. She looked up and Cloud was watching curiously. "I can never have too many weapons," she said with a smirk. "First off, we need to wait for a colleague of ours to arrive so that we can discuss our next step."

As soon as she had finished saying that, Aerith nearly pranced into the kitchen, followed by an old presence Tifa hadn't felt in _years._ "Vincent is here," she said with a bright smile.

How long had it been? Fifty years? Tifa watched as Vincent stepped into the kitchen and Tifa gave him a nod. This was the man who had been the one to train her in handling firearms, and though she wouldn't tell him, he was like a brother to her. Vincent gave her a brief twitch of lips and shook her hand before giving a bemused smile when Aerith hugged him. He had never been much for physical touching, but he had always treated Aerith like a child.

"Where have you been? Sleeping in a coffin all these years?" Tifa asked with a smile.

"I've been hunting in Wutai," Vincent replied, voice deep and slightly scratchy; Tifa wondered _what _he had been hunting. Crimson eyes slid over to Cloud, who was keeping distance between them. "You always were a troublemaker."

"Which is odd, considering the sweet, rule-following girl I used to be as a human," Tifa snarked.

"We should get down to business," said Vincent. "I've heard rumors, but I want to know what _you_ know first."

"The bar should close in about an hour, and we need everyone to be there," Aerith chimed.

"I will wait," Vincent said with a nod, motioning for Tifa to follow him out to the sitting area.

For the next hour, Vincent had her show him what weapons she was packing now. He wasn't much for facial expressions, either, but her choice of weapons seemed to please him. "All are good choices," he murmured finally.

"Thank you. I _did_ learn from the best," Tifa said in a light tone. If ever she'd felt like she had a family, it had been with Aerith and Vincent; even though she wouldn't tell him that to his face. He could always be counted on when they needed him and he did an exceptional job on everything.

"Your visions have been coming normally?"

Tifa nodded. "I still haven't been able to call them at will. Though if I can relax my thoughts and body, they do come easier," she replied. "It's a level of control that I don't think I'll have until I've had at least another two hundred years added to my age."

"It's still an impressive power to have," said Vincent.

"Going soft on me, Vince?"

He glared while she smirked. The fog that accompanied her visions clouded her gaze once more, but only enough for her to catch a glimpse of Vincent with his arms protectively carrying a small, bloodied body. "A vision?" his voice asked before her sight cleared.

Tifa breathed out slowly. "Just a glimpse. I think it had something to do with you and a girl."

"What was I doing?" Vincent asked, a note of curiosity slipping into his voice.

"You were holding her," Tifa said, frowning. _Guarding_, the word came to her quickly. Guarding a young girl… The vampire-werewolf they would be breaking out?

The rest of the group trudged back before the hour had passed and they all gathered in the sitting room. Zack looked annoyed and he kept his distance from Aerith, while Sephiroth stayed by the doorway, away from _everyone_ else. Cloud took a chair close to his friends, while the vampires stood across the room from them. Barret nearly took up the entire couch.

"Our next move needs to be to infiltrate Shinra headquarters," Tifa started. "Except… Sephiroth and I will be sitting this one out."

"Why is that?" Cloud asked.

"I had a vision in which Hojo wanted us both for his experiments. We walked right into his trap and were captured," Tifa replied.

"No shit," Zack muttered, surprised.

Tifa explained the rest of her vision in detail, including the information on the girl who could be the key to Hojo's experiments. "I don't like the idea of sending others in my place, but the last thing we need is for Hojo to get his hands on us so that he can attempt replicate our powers."

"I'll go in," Aerith said, stepping forward.

"Take Zack with you," Sephiroth said.

"I can go as well," Cloud said, his eyebrows forking in annoyance at being excluded.

"You and Vincent need to remain outside and cover Zack and Aerith in case they run into trouble," Sephiroth informed the blond.

"Where will you two be?" asked Barret. He didn't like being left out of the plan, but he knew that there were things that he couldn't do. He wasn't superhuman like the other people congregated in the room. He wasn't a bloodsucker or a wolf, but Tifa was still like a daughter to him; he never took her age into consideration, and he worried over her.

"We're going to investigate a few things in sector six," Tifa replied.

"And you think it'll be safe for the two of ya to be prancing around, out in the open?" Barret groused.

Tifa's lips twitched into a smile. "We are more than capable of handling the criminals in sector six, Barret."

"Shit, I know that, girl!" he snapped. "It don't stop me from worrying that some psycho out there wants to put you on a friggin' examination table so that he can cut you open!"

The temperature in the room dropped and Barret wondered if he'd said something bad. The men looked decidedly uncomfortable, but he knew better than to ask questions. "When?" Aerith interrupted the silence.

"Tomorrow. You need to get in there as soon as possible. There's no way of knowing that Hojo has learned from this girl already," Sephiroth said, watching her nod in all seriousness.

"How are we even going to find this kid if we don't know what she looks like?" Zack asked in exasperation.

"All I know is that she's called specimen twenty-one. You'll have to hack into their computers, or search their more guarded areas," Tifa replied.

"As soon as we're in, I'll be able to command any human within a few feet," Aerith said with a dismissive wave. "The closer we get to the floor she's on, the more information they'll be able to give us."

"Are we clear with our objectives, then?" Tifa asked.

There were nods around before everyone left the room except for Cloud. "I agree with Barret. It's dangerous for you to go out into the slums. You and Sephiroth may be accomplished warriors, but if your vision is anything to go by, it may mean that there is someone out there more powerful. Someone who could take the two of you down easily."

Tifa nodded once. "There _are_ vampires out there more powerful than me, Cloud. There always have been, but that doesn't mean that I'm going to live my life in fear."

"You're unique… aren't you?" Cloud asked, stepping closer and searching her eyes. "How many of your kind can see into the future?"

_The first Seer in over a thousand years…_

"I will not cower before anyone, and they will not force me into hiding," Tifa assured him, eyes glinting with anger. "And what do you know, maybe I'll See my own death before it happens so that I can change it."

Cloud was not amused. "Be careful out there."

Tifa's face broke into a small smile. "How do you think I've survived all of these years if I haven't been careful?"

Blue eyes rolled, but he felt something lighten in his chest at the fact that she had stopped being a block of ice for the moment. "You'll be found out once we get this girl out of Shinra HQ."

She hummed in agreement. "It was a risk I was willing to take when Aerith and I didn't kill you and your friends."

The memory still made him bristle in annoyance. He would've expected more from her, especially now that he knew that they had been lovers once upon a time. It really wasn't a surprise as to why vampires were considered enemies to both humans and werewolves; they were cold and unfeeling much of the time. Despite that, he looked at Tifa and his mind wondered what she had been like as a human. "Good luck tomorrow," he said after a moment of silence.

Tifa nodded, her eyes roaming his face and keeping note of the faint glow in his eyes. "Watch your own back, Cloud. Another vampire will not hesitate to finish what I started."

A low growl left his throat as she walked away from him, and for the life of him he couldn't figure out why she made him angry. Maybe it was her words, or the coolness of her tone, but something about the female vampire bothered him. It would do him well to steer away from her, especially during full moons.

…

Both she and Sephiroth had gone for the most inconspicuous attire they cold find for their venture into the sector six slums. Sephiroth looked uncomfortable, but he'd had to wear a long jacket with the hood pulled up to hide his hair. Tifa, on the other hand, looked comfortable in navy blue, with a simple black jacket hiding her own weapons. Her hair was pulled away from her face, and with it that way, the angles of her face changed. Sephiroth knew it had been a tactic to alter her image so that she wouldn't be easily recognized.

"What exactly are we looking for?" Sephiroth questioned as they perused Wall Market.

"I'm looking for someone," Tifa replied.

Sephiroth didn't look appeased. If anything, he now looked suspicious.

"He's the one who makes my weapons, but he doesn't sell out in the open. Why don't you take a walk and we'll meet back here in an hour," Tifa said, looking at her watch.

"And if something happens to you?" the ex-General questioned.

Tifa wanted to sigh, but it wasn't necessary for her to even breathe, so what was the point? Why were all these wolves so worried about her wellbeing all of a sudden? She and Aerith had tried to kill them and they were concerned about their safety? "If I'm not here in an hour, go back to the bar and make sure that Aerith secures that girl. Don't worry about me."

Sephiroth raised an eyebrow at her and sighed to himself when she walked away. Now, what was he supposed to do for an hour in such a seedy place?

…

Slipping into a secluded bar a few streets away from the Wall Market shopping district, Tifa slipped into an empty booth and waited patiently, reassured by the weight of her guns. She had stopped breathing in order to keep out the more unpleasant scents from reaching her senses, but her eyes were sharp and counting each patron of the bar. The door was in her line of sight, but the person she was expecting wouldn't use the front door, she knew.

Speak of the devil, she thought, watching the man slip into the seat across from her, motioning the waitress away. "When I received your message, I didn't know whether or not to come."

"The information I have is important," his gruff voice replied.

"Maybe you should come out of hiding. I have concerns and if they turn out to be true, you would be the only person that can stop Genesis—"

"There is a lot of potential in you, girl. Do not underestimate your power."

Tifa's eyes narrowed. "He has practically raised me. How would I be able to turn my weapons against him?"

"If Genesis is conspiring against his own kind, then he deserves death."

"I wouldn't be able to do it," Tifa murmured, glaring at the old rickety table they were sitting at.

The man in front of her removed an envelope from the inside of his coat and slid it across the table. "Some of the images are very old, but we managed to take new ones so that you could see for yourself. Genesis always did have a flare for the dramatic."

Tifa opened the unmarked envelope and removed the pictures from inside, her eyes refusing to take it all in. She had seen and done many things in the last few years that she wasn't proud of, but she hadn't… there were things she would _never_ do.

"Genesis knew from the very beginning that you were special. He just never told me what he wanted with your powers. Be careful, Tifa. He's dangerous and if he has turned against us, you'll have to kill him before he kills you."

Tifa tossed the pictures back into the envelope and slipped them into her own coat before getting to her feet. "I don't know what to believe anymore," she hissed.

"Go with your instincts."

She scoffed. "My instincts are telling me not to trust _anyone_." With those last words, Tifa stepped out of the bar, her thoughts warring in her head. She didn't know what to think, how to process the information she had received. Genesis couldn't have… no, he had protected her for so long. He wasn't capable of so much evil, right?

"Such a pretty girl with such a troubled expression on her face," purred a voice from the shadows.

Tifa whirled with her inhuman speed, but it was too late. Her eyes widened when she felt the prick of a needle against her neck. She stared up into the handsome face of the man who had blindsided her and grit her teeth as she began to fall, body boneless.

He caught her effortlessly and hauled her into his arms as if she were as light as a feather. He slipped back into the shadows, with his prize in his arms, and smiled to himself.

…

…

…

…

…

…

Mwuahahaha! A confusing chapter _plus_ a cliffhanger? Yeah, sorry about that. I promise that all the questions are going to be answered in the next chapter.

On another note, girls and guys, this story will probably have some adult content stuff in the future, but it will _not _be posted on ffnet. ObsessiveCompulsiveValkyrie and I have created a live journal community that will feature our M-rated work from now on. I will continue to post my stories here, but if you want to read the smex, or if it's some really explicit violence, then I will add a note in the chapter so that you can check it out over at the community.

Anyway, everyone please enjoy your weekend and I'll try my best to update soon!


	3. Revelations

Hello! I bring you all an update, since I couldn't let the year end without one. Thank you so much for all the reviews and the favorites for this story!

…

**Revelations**

…

Aerith sighed to herself when she heard another small growl being emitted from the man walking next to her. He hadn't been too happy with their predicament, but at the moment it was their best cover. Besides, no one had stopped them so far and she'd only had to use her power twice before.

"I know you don't want to wear anything that associates you to Shinra, but we'll be out of here soon," Aerith muttered, slipping her hands into the pockets of her white doctor coat.

"I never realized how confining these helmets could be," Zack replied in irritation, scratching his neck just under the grunt helmet Aerith had made him put on. She was right, of course, and so far they had avoided standing out too much, never mind his impressive height.

"You never had to wear one during your time here?" the brunette asked, smirking when she realized that Zack was probably too muscular to pass off as a grunt.

Zack grunted. "I went from the academy straight into the rank of Third Class SOLDIER. Grunts are for guys who have to work their way up from the very bottom."

Green eyes rolled in irritation. "Please, don't be so modest," her voice dripped with sarcasm.

Her companion shrugged. "I've always been good. Not Sephiroth level, but a few years from getting there."

Aerith was inwardly impressed, though on the outside she looked disinterested. The man had to realize that his bragging was _not_ going to win him any points. At the end of the hallway they had just turned into, there was a man with a rifle standing at the door on the far end. He stood straighter as they approached, and cleared his throat.

"I'm sorry ma'am, but only those with proper clearance can be on this floor," he said quickly.

Aerith sighed and her eyes glowed momentarily. "But I do have proper clearance," she said in a sweet voice.

"Uh—yes, of course," the man nearly stuttered, quickly opening the door with his own key when something in his head commanded him to.

"I'll be borrowing that keycard, too," Aerith said as she and Zack stepped onto the other side.

A quick nod as he handed it over. "Anything to help, ma'am!"

Aerith took the key and both she and Zack began to walk down another hall.

"Your powers are a little scary," muttered Zack.

The vampire smiled, showing a little fang. "I know." They came to another door and she somehow knew that this was it. "Get ready. We don't know what we'll find here."

Zack nodded and sniffed the air for any useful clue. "She's here." At Aerith's raised eyebrow, he replied, "Her scent is different, but she's part wolf. I can still smell her."

Aerith nodded and they used the keycard to get passed the door and into a lab with various, advanced looking computers. Beyond the computers were glass walls with metal examining tables, various medical tools, and cameras. Zack's growl reached her ears once more and Aerith waved a hand at him, trying to silently placate him. "Where?" she asked, removing her gun from the holster at her hip.

"There," said Zack, pointing towards another set of doors with numbers on them. After a thorough check of the lab, they found it devoid of any scientists or other Shinra employees.

"Get her out and I'll hack the computers to take any information that may be useful to us," Aerith said, approaching the machines and leaving Zack to do his business.

Tearing off the helmet, he approached the doors cautiously and glanced inside, finding various cages on the other side. Using the keycard to open the door, he left it open and walked inside, sniffing slightly and catching scent of blood and drugs in the air.

The wolves in their cages reacted to him with growls and whines, recognizing his strength. His nose took him towards the cage at the other side of the room and he kneeled to look inside. "Hey," he said, tapping the bars softly.

The human looking girl came awake with a start and she only shifted her head to look up.

"Go away," she nearly slurred, her eyes unfocused.

"I'm kinda here to rescue you," said Zack, driving his fist into the lock of her cage, making the keypad sizzle with electricity before exploding. "Can you walk?"

"Hobo drugged me up," she replied.

"Hojo?"

She giggled faintly and nodded, her eyes closing again. Zack dragged her out and was thankful that at least they had given her a standard shirt and set of pants, even though her top seemed to stick to her body with sweat and some blood. She was dead weight in his arms, though it didn't matter because she was pretty tiny and he could throw her over one shoulder.

The other wolves began to howl and Zack felt pity for them. He wondered if he could set them loose before he and Aerith left so that they could run amuck in the building. But then… they would probably get killed.

"Kill them," the girl in his arms whispered.

"Why?" Zack demanded.

"Because Hojo has experimented on them one too many times. They've lost their human sides because they've gone mad. All they have now is the madness of an animal. I've seen it," she muttered tiredly.

Zack sighed and it hurt some primal part of him to kill his own kind without giving them the chance to be free again. He knew what captivity felt like, and even though he was a little crazy and violent himself, he hadn't gone completely over the deep end.

Aerith stepped up to him and looked the girl over. "Ready?"

The tall man nodded and jerked a head over his shoulder. "Think you can take care of them?"

Green eyes didn't need to look to know of the creatures in the room. She could taste the madness and the death. She nodded and let Zack walk away before she drew her gun and entered the room. The wolves snarled at her and began to throw their bodies against their cages, baring sharp teeth and crazed eyes.

Tilting her head to the side with a sigh, she pulled the trigger quickly and making sure that that their deaths were quick and relatively painless. After all, despite what some of her actions showed, she was not big on causing others pain.

Sighing to herself, Aerith's head jerked when she heard the sirens and alarms go off outside. Rolling her eyes, she checked her weapons and made for the door. She'd later give Sephiroth a piece of her mind for cursing her with Zack's presence on this mission.

…

Tifa came to with a start, eyes snapping open and quickly taking in her surroundings and the fact that she had been stripped of her weapons. The drug had worn off and she didn't appear to have been touched inappropriately…

She was inside of a small room, no windows and only one door. The walls were a boring gray and her fingers were itching to just punch her way through the concrete. She had the strength for it, and to tear her captors limb from limb, but she was curious to see where she was and who had been foolish enough to take her.

She didn't have to wait for long as she heard the locks and bolts being removed from the other side. Sprinting to the back of the door, she narrowed her eyes when her nose twitched and she picked up a familiar scent.

The man stepped away from the door and Tifa's arm swung out, slamming into his nose before her knee rammed into his chest, dropping him to the ground. Wrinkling her nose in distaste, Tifa stepped out of the room and was greeted by various weapons pointed directly at her. At the back of the room was her captor, looking amused and completely smug.

"I didn't think it would be so easy to just snatch you up off the street," he said with a long sigh.

"Why didn't you just approach me instead of going through all of the dramatics?" Tifa asked flatly.

"Would you have willingly come with me?" he asked.

Tifa thought about it for a moment and then a less than friendly smile slipped over her lips. "I guess we'll never know now."

"Are you two done with your childish bickering?"

Tifa looked up in surprise when her eyes landed on another person she hadn't seen in many years. She frowned to herself as she wondered what the two men were doing in the same room. "Reeve."

Reeve nodded and smiled slightly, motioning towards Tifa's captor. "You remember Weiss, don't you?" he asked.

"Yes," Tifa said, nonchalant.

"The princess and I go way back," Weiss said with a feral grin, fangs sharp and only slightly threatening.

Reeve ignored the male vampire and turned back to Tifa. "You leave yourself too distracted when you're out in public."

Tifa let out a scoff and crossed her arms over her chest. "What did you bring me here for? I'm a little busy today."

"I know you and your companions are getting into trouble. Why did you risk breaking someone out of the Shinra building?"

Crimson eyes narrowed. "How did you know that?"

Reeve smiled serenely. "I know many things," was his vague reply. "I _don't_ know why you're doing it, though, and I'm worried that you'll get yourself killed."

"Why would you worry? We're merely acquaintances; we barely know each other," Tifa said in a curt tone.

The older vampire grunted. "I knew your father, Tifa, and you know this. That story that he hid your sickness from you are lies."

"I don't want to talk about this. Now, I would appreciate it if you told me what you want so that I can go," Tifa cut in. She ignored Weiss, who looked amused at the whole situation.

Reeve sighed and approached her, planting a heavy hand on her shoulder. "I know the reality of what happened the night Genesis turned you. The only problem is that you've refused to hear me for the last hundred years."

With the news of Genesis' possible betrayal from _another_ source, Tifa realized that it was possible that what Reeve was telling her could be true. Still, she didn't have the time to delve back into the past at the moment. She needed to return to Aerith and make sure she was safe. Vincent would take care of her, but Tifa had to know that both her friends had made it out of their mission in one piece.

"I just want you to be safe," Reeve said quietly. "Take Weiss with you when you return. He is a valuable warrior and it helps that you two already know each other. His powers of causing confusion for enemies can be a great asset."

Tifa's gaze slid over to Weiss, who gave her a challenging look, before she nodded once. "If all you wanted was to give me a bodyguard—" she was interrupted as she turned for the door.

"If Shinra finds out that you didn't kill those werewolves, they'll come after all of you," Reeve said gravely.

Tifa's eyes narrowed in suspicion now. "How did you—"

"I already told you that I know a lot of things, Tifa." He approached her so that he was facing her once more. "They will send out their SOLDIERS. In the last five years, they have been training them in how to kill us."

This was news to her. How the hell hadn't Genesis known this? Or had he been keeping it a secret? "Maybe it'll be a good idea to kill SOLDIERs on sight, then," she murmured, tone detached.

"You'd set back all that our kind has won. We're not hunted, and we're left to _live_ like the humans do. If we are featured on the six o' clock news because we killed some humans—even SOLDIERs—people will begin to fear us anew," said Reeve seriously.

"People already fear us, Reeve. And what universe are you living in? I'm a killer for hire when the occasion calls for it. Humans would be right to fear me and those like me," Tifa replied.

"Not all of us are trained killers, Tifa," was Reeve's quiet reply.

"Look, I really don't have time for this. I need to go and make sure that Aerith and Vincent are safe."

"Vincent is with you?" Reeve asked in surprise. "I'm shocked you managed to find him."

"Unlike you, Vincent always comes when I call him," Tifa said coolly, reaching the door once more. "This girl we are taking from the building is the key to this whole mess. She has to be hidden, and even when Shinra will come after us, they won't have her to further their plans."

"What is she?" Reeve asked.

Tifa turned to look at the kind hearted vampire, not allowing herself to be swayed by the mask of caring. He was one of the oldest and most experienced vampires she knew; he could charm his way out of any situation with that face. Tifa also noticed that he asked 'what' instead of 'who.'

"She's someone who needs our help. I may have become a trained killer, but I like to think that there's a tiny shred of humanity left in me," Tifa said before she had grabbed her weapons from the table near the door, and stepped out.

Reeve looked at Weiss and motioned for the door. "Protect her with your life if you need to."

Weiss nodded once, face solemn, and then made after the woman.

Fists clenched, Reeve stepped into another room. "She's stubborn," he muttered.

His old friend chuckled and nodded. "Takes after you, doesn't she?"

"I would've wanted her to live and die as a human, not a monster like us, Angeal."

Angeal grunted. "It's too late for that, isn't it? Genesis' personal vendetta against you is the reason why she lost her humanity."

"And why Sephiroth lost his as well," Reeve reminded.

"He needs to be put down no matter what. Better that your kid does it soon, before Genesis talks too much," Angeal said, blue eyes taking in the look of anger on Reeve's face.

"She'll hate me even more if she finds out who I am to her, and that the man she knew as a father wasn't really who she thought. What if we push her to Genesis' side?" asked Reeve as he paced the area.

"Look," Angeal started, leaning forward in his chair, placing his arms against his knees. "Genesis would deserve all that's coming to him. He may have raised Tifa as a vampire, but he did it for selfish, petty reasons. We need to win Tifa over before Genesis has a chance to poison her against us."

"What is Genesis going to gain with all of this?" Reeve muttered. "Aside from some stupid retribution."

"We both know the answer to that. Genesis always did want to live forever. What better way than to kill us and remain unrivalled? He probably thinks he'll be spared so that he can live on to be the only vampire in existence."

"They'll never succeed in killing all of us," Reeve countered.

"No, but our numbers will be reduced until they force us back into hiding. Genesis is a fool. Tifa is onto him, and if her powers develop at the rate yours did, she'll soon have the proof of his betrayal in her head."

"With the information that you've been passing to her from my own visions, she's confirming what she has been able to See in her head. But we're still manipulating the situation and she won't be happy about that at all," Reeve said, taking up his guns and slipping them inside of his coat. "We should leave and see how they fare with their little _rescue_ over at Shinra."

Angeal stood and followed him out the door. "That girl is trouble."

Reeve grunted and smirked. "Reminds me of our younger years."

"We're not old," was the flat reply he received.

"We're going on nine hundred years, Angeal. Many would say that we _are_," Reeve chuckled.

Angeal merely rolled his eyes and shrugged. "Let's just go see what these babies are up to."

Reeve smirked and followed him out the door.

…

"Idiot! What did you do?" Aerith snapped as she ran out into the main portion of the lab and saw that Zack was growling low in his throat.

"I didn't touch anything! I think that they must've had some kind of silent alarm in her cage because I was just standing here," Zack snapped, looking out of the little window high on the door.

Aerith locked the doors but knew that they wouldn't hold in the soldiers with the firepower. Then she began to scan the lab, trying to locate a different exit. "Come on," she motioned for a different set of doors, a distance away from where the girl had been. "We can't use the doors, so we'll go through the vents. Think you'll be able to fit through them?" she asked, pointing upwards as soon as they entered what looked like an office.

She shoved the grate on the ceiling and it left a small space to crawl up into. Climbing up, Aerith looked around and shook her head. "Look, it'll be big enough for me and the girl only. I'm going to take them out so that you can get out through the main door. Though you should stay here just in case."

Zack was frowning at her as she pulled herself into the vent shaft, but she didn't have the time or the desire to take care of his ego. Besides, it appeared the small sadistic side of her that enjoyed driving the wolf over the edge.

Crawling through the space of the vent, Aerith was thankful that the space wasn't as confining as she had thought. Taking the next bend that led into a different direction, she could hear the sounds of soldiers approaching, guns cocked and ready to break into the lab. Staring down through a grate, she counted at least ten so far, and before they could noticed she was there, she removed the slab and silently dropped back onto the ground on stealthy feet.

Taking the first one while he was turned away, all she did was slam her fingers into a pressure point that rendered him unconscious; she knew Tifa would've killed him, but she didn't want to cause unnecessary death. Not if there was no need for it.

The next one she punched in the stomach, knocking the wind out of the man before punching him across the jaw and sending him flying headfirst into the closest wall. The thump alerted the others, and she had only two seconds to take cover around the corner before they began to fire their guns.

She hoped that Zack took it as his chance to escape with the girl, otherwise Aerith would hand his ass to him later. Now though, she needed to watch her own ass before it was shot. Smiling to herself, she removed a small, round device from her pocket and pushed the red button in the middle, throwing it into the direction from where the men were still shooting.

Counting down the seconds, she heard their bodies drop heavily. Glancing cautiously around the corner, she saw them all passed out on the floor and with speed took down the hall and towards the door to the lab Zack had been in. He was already outside and by the stairs, waiting for her.

"We need to go up because they're coming from below and the elevators would be a waiting trap," Zack said.

Aerith nodded and both ran up the stairs as the sounds of heavy, echoing footsteps reached them from below. "What's your bright idea once we get to the top?" she asked.

"We'll steal a helicopter," Zack replied, and Aerith could practically hear him grinning.

Aerith scoffed. "I can bet you anything that they have those fitted with tracking devices."

"It's a good thing we're going to crash it somewhere outside of the city, isn't it?" Zack asked. "Call your friend and let her know that we'll need someone to pick us up."

Instead of snarking about him giving her orders, Aerith sent out the call to Tifa through their minds. It was really the only reason she was surprised why when they burst through the door on the roof, that a hand came around her neck and a gun was pointed to her temple.

"_Breathe_ and I'll blow a bullet filled with holy water through your pretty little head."

…

Sephiroth and Tifa arrived at Vincent and Cloud's location within minutes. They were situated on a roof of a building across from the Shinra headquarters, a sniper gun resting on the ledge, and with Vincent glancing through it every few minutes.

Cloud looked bored and a little annoyed as he glanced up and his eyes settled on Tifa. "What's going on? Any word?" she asked.

Vincent shook his head. "Aerith was able to download information from the computers and then she wiped it clean. She hasn't checked in since then."

Tifa frowned and moved closer to the ledge, eyes on the building. She tried to focus on connecting with her friend, but all she was getting back from her was a sense of exhilaration. "She's fighting," she muttered after a moment.

Sephiroth and Cloud stared at her. "You can… see what she's doing?" the ex-General asked.

Tifa shook her head. "We have something like an empathic bond, and we can communicate through our minds, but this is largely due to her telepathic-like powers. I can sometimes feel what she's feeling, too."

Cloud approached her side and looked at her. "Were you able to settle your business?"

"In a way," Tifa replied vaguely. She'd lost track of Weiss, but she had no doubt that he would show up soon. Her business had been with the man at the bar, but talking to Reeve had shown Tifa just how easy it was for their plans to be discovered by outside parties. Reeve was right, though, and they had to start making plans to leave the city as soon as possible.

'_They're sending soldiers after us and we're headed for the roof. Zack says that we can take a chopper and crash it somewhere outside of the city. We'll need a ride back.'_

Tifa frowned at the half-baked plan. "It's too risky," she whispered to both herself and Aerith.

"What?" Cloud questioned; Tifa raised a hand to stall him.

'_Don't worry about us—'_

The connection was cut as a wave of apprehension washed through Tifa like the feel of a religious cross in close proximity. _'What's going on?'_ she prodded urgently.

'_Turks. On the roof of the western side of the building.'_

"What other weapons did you bring?" Tifa asked Vincent.

"Why?" Vincent asked, slinging his sniper rifle across his back and lifting a heavy box at his feet.

"We need to blow up a few floors," said Tifa, pointing in the direction Aerith had told her. "The Turks have Aerith and Zack on the roof there and we need to divert their attention so that they can escape."

Vincent pulled out a wicked looking weapon that seemed like it could cause a big bang and handed it over to her; she then passed it on to Cloud. "You do it. Vincent and I are going to offer them the cover they need. As soon as we hit the helicopter pad, fire."

"Getting into trouble without me?" Weiss asked, feet landing quietly on the roof.

Tifa shrugged. "You wandered off. It's your own fault," she replied with a smirk.

Cloud's eyes narrowed on the stranger as he took a whiff of his scent and knew he was vampire. His familiarity with Tifa irritated him for some reason, but he made no comment. Instead he watched Tifa continue to semi-flirt with the other man. The change over her was startling to say the least, from the focused killer he'd first met. "Are we doing this or not?" he snapped, his voice coming in a low bass growl and his eyes shining with an impending change to his wolf.

Tifa gave him a careful look before she nodded and motioned for them to follow her as she began to jump the roofs of several buildings. Finally they reached a taller structure they would need to climb in order to get closer to the Shinra building.

She pointed up towards the helicopter landing on the side of the massive tower. "Wait a few minutes for Vincent and me to get up there, and then blow the floors underneath. The lights are off, so there should be little to no casualties," said Tifa, checking her weapons.

"How are you going to get off from the landing?" Sephiroth asked, inspecting the drop from the helicopter pad; he knew from memory that it was fifty-two floors down.

"We'll jump," Vincent said.

Cloud and Sephiroth stared at him.

"Your wolf can handle the drop?" Weiss asked them.

"I suppose," Sephiroth replied. "We've never tried that kind of distance. Your kind can do it?"

Tifa nodded. "As long as we have the training for it. Vincent doesn't need to worry about it, but Aerith and me will be fine."

They turned to look up at the building again and Tifa concentrated on Aerith. _'What way are you facing?'_

'_North. You can come up behind the one who's holding me, but the other two are facing us. These are trained Turks, Teef, and they'll fire off at you immediately and probably won't miss.'_

'_I can take a bullet, Aer. We'll be there soon.'_

'_Be careful,' Aerith said with a mental sigh._

'_We will be. Stay out of the line of fire,' _Tifa said. She turned to look at the men, subconsciously seeking out Cloud's clear blue eyes. "Stay out of sight. I get the feeling that the Turks will have called reinforcements. If we need to separate, don't go back to the bar. Just lay low for a few hours and wait for our call. If it doesn't happen, make sure you're not being followed before going back to the bar."

The men nodded and took their places, and the wolves stared as Vincent pulled off his coat and they heard the sound of flesh tearing before two long, leathery black wings sprouted from his back. Sephiroth and Cloud stared as the vampire shook himself and droplets of blood fell onto the rooftop from the torn flesh of Vincent's back. "That's…"

"Disturbing?" Cloud muttered as Vincent grabbed Tifa around the waist and Weiss' arm to pull them both up into the air.

"Very much so," Sephiroth replied.

The blond nodded and readied the weapon, looking through the scope as the vampires ascended. He wondered just what kind of trouble they were all getting into.

…

"We'll only have the element of surprise for a few seconds. Make them count," said Vincent.

Tifa and Weiss drew their guns and began to take aim, the air rushing by them loudly as Vincent began to rise higher. _'We're on our way, Aer. Take the wolf and the girl to the ground when I tell you.'_

'_Will do,' _her friend replied. _'Just try not to get one of us shot.'_

As soon as Vincent had them right at the rooftop, Weiss and Tifa opened fire and the Turks took cover. Before the suits could retaliate, the massive explosion went off, the building rattling with it and shaking underneath their feet.

Vincent dropped them in front of Aerith and Zack and took the girl from their arms before jumping off of the side of the building as bullets rained in his direction. The roar of the fire drowned the sounds of the bullets, but after handing Aerith a weapon, Tifa found herself staring down her barrel at the redhead, his own gun pointed at her chest.

"Stealing from the president don't look too well for you," he said with a leer.

"Neither does trying to create some super monster to kill us off," Tifa hissed.

He shrugged and removed the safety from his gun. "You know, you were supposed to kill off that wolf." He nodded towards Zack. "Been lying about your jobs? Did you know that it'll only earn you an execution order?"

"I'm not very easy to kill," Tifa replied, rolling her eyes.

"With a well-aimed bullet through the heart, you'd be just as dead as any human," he said, his aim never wavering.

"And who is going to do it? You?" Tifa asked derisively. "You may be Shinra's right hand, but remember that I'm the one who gets called in to the jobs you and your little friends can't do."

"You think you're so bad, don't you, little girl?" Reno asked, dropping his gun on the ground. "Why don't you fight me like a man and see who comes out on top of who?"

Tifa narrowed her eyes before she dropped her own gun and charged at him. He evaded her first attack, moving far quicker than she had assumed he could. Throwing punch after punch, she only managed to graze his cheek and leave a cut across his cheekbone.

His leg came up to slam into her abdomen, but she darted to the side, slamming her fist into his ribs and hearing the satisfying crunch. He groaned and held his side as he evaded more hits, but the pain had caused him to become clumsy and Tifa took the advantage, sending her knee right into his gut. When he doubled over, she rammed her elbow into the middle of his back and her foot into his jaw as he hit the floor.

When she went to punch him in the face again, he caught her wrist and twisted, pulling her to her knees. Snaking an arm around her neck, he began to squeeze. Gritting her teeth, Tifa tried to find purchase to stand, but the rubble between her feet impeded it and she head-butted him with less force than she would've wanted.

Reno cursed as he fingered his bloody lips and stumbled to his feet, attempting to attack her again. Tifa used the movement to curl back into a flip, her feet slamming under his chin and nose hard enough to break more bones.

Roaring in pain, Reno tried to attack her once more, but the floor underneath them shook harder, sending them off balance before it gave way and they were both tumbling three floors down into the deafening fire. Cursing to herself, Tifa stumbled away from the heat, knowing that fire was one of the definite ways of killing a vampire. She was surrounded and there was no purchase anywhere for her to jump her way back up through the roof.

She had lost the Turk somewhere amongst the flames, but she honestly didn't care at the moment. The man had been something other than human or wolf, and it troubled her that she hadn't been able to sense exactly what he was.

"Do you need some help there?"

She looked up and glared when she spotted Weiss' head of white hair. He winked at her and Tifa felt Vincent drop down next to her, wings close to his body and away from the fire. "How are they?" she asked.

"Fine. Zack overpowered the bald one after your friend used his powers of confusion," he said, pointing up at Weiss. "Aerith seemed to have lulled the one with the black hair. He walked away," Vincent said with a frown. "I couldn't tell if she used her powers or if he let her go."

Tifa found that oddly suspicious as well. "One of theirs is here in the fire," she commented as Vincent pulled her close.

"Let them find his ashes," Vincent said in a cold tone.

Tifa remained silent as they rose the three floors and back up. The helicopter had also gone up in flames, having fallen through its own hole, and they had demolished a large portion of the building but at least they were all well and relatively unscathed. "Why do you suppose they didn't put up a bigger fight?" she asked, once Vincent set her on her feet.

"It's either a trap or… a trap," said Zack. "Though I suggest we get the hell out of here."

Aerith nodded and gave Tifa a reassuring smile as they approached the edge of the building and looked down. "See you all later," the lighter brunette said with a smile, before both jumped, certain that the men would follow. The air was cold and their speed would've killed any human, but as the ground rushed up to meet them, both landed with equal strength, creating small craters around their feet.

"Split up and use different directions to approach HQ. We don't want to be followed," Aerith said to their companions when they landed.

Everyone ran off in different directions, taking to the shadows at speeds not perceptible to the human eye. Once she was safely away from the Shinra building and the wreckage they had caused, Tifa slowed down her steps and began to think over what she had seen. Surely if the redheaded Turk had been physically modified, then the others had been, too. It annoyed her that so much had been going on and that Genesis had been hiding it from them. Why? Was his thirst for power so great?

Rounding the corner into an alley, Tifa paused when the fog of a vision began to approach her mind. Though, to her surprise, she wasn't completely overwhelmed and rendered blinded to her surroundings. She continued to walk, the vision superimposed over her regular eyesight.

She could see the images as if they were ghostly specters in the alleyway, but she didn't stop her quiet walk. It was—it was about her… and someone who seemed familiar but she couldn't make out his face.

"_The end of all vampire kind approaches, girl. You're a fool to not take my side. How can I persuade you?"_

"_There is nothing that you can possibly give me that I would want," she snarled, crimson rivulets tracing a path down her face, chest, and arms._

"_Nothing, you say? Not even your precious pet?"_

_She surged to her feet as blond hair and blue eyes in a battered face was dragged over to her side. Touching fingers, much too gentle than she had ever seen herself do, to his face, she shook her head. "You were supposed to be in hiding."_

_Cloud grunted and rubbed blood away from her cheeks. "You look like you're crying tears of blood," he muttered. "Don't do it, Tifa. With your power at their disposal, they will be unstoppable."_

"_If I don't accept, you'll be dead."_

"_Then let me."_

_Tifa shook her head and got to her feet, eyes as cold as ice as she looked up. "Don't hurt him anymore. If you can guarantee his safety, I will join your side."_

"_No. Don't do it, Tifa!" his voice practically croaked out._

"_A wise decision, girl."_

"_What do you want me to do?"_

_She could only feel the sickening smile, but not see it. "I want you to kill your father."_

Tifa's eyes narrowed as the vision began to dissolve with those words. Her father? The man had been dead for more than a century! Unless… unless…

Only one person could possibly know the meaning of the vision would be Genesis. Stopping at in the middle of the alley, the rest of the vision finally registered. The vision had shown that Cloud would become her lover again, and that she would come to… care for him.

No. She wouldn't allow that to happen. Not only to keep the wolf safe, but because she didn't want to give herself such a weakness. Though she had plenty of pleasant memories of him as a human, she didn't want to care for a man who was not vampire. Not only was it one of the biggest taboos, but caring for him would eventually result in her betraying her own kind. She needed to see Aerith as soon as possible to discuss the vision and hopefully change it from running its course.

With a stronger resolve, she began to make her way towards the bar. She'd use any means available to keep Cloud away.

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Yay! Update on the last day of the year! I know it's been a long time, but I promise that I have plenty of updates coming up, and a new story ready to be posted. It's possible that it'll be up tomorrow and it'll be a Vincent/Yuffie. I really hope everyone enjoyed this chapter with all its confusing new characters. There were more mysteries and twists here, so hopefully next chapter will solve some of them. Anyway, as always I dedicate this baby to Valk and hope she, as well as you all, enjoyed reading. I promise that there's more CloudTifa stuff in store for this fic, even when it doesn't look like it now.

I hope everyone has a happy and safe New Year's, and I'll see you all next year! ;)


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